


The Hook Up

by madamebomb



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, flirty Zuko, idiots falling in love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-15
Updated: 2018-01-19
Packaged: 2019-03-05 07:30:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13383093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madamebomb/pseuds/madamebomb
Summary: Zuko and Suki's flirtation turns into something more while on a visit to Iroh's....or does it?





	1. One

“It would be better for the both of us if you got out of those clothes.”

“Excuse me?” Zuko asked, looking from the stack of paperwork in front of him and focusing his attention on the woman standing in the doorway of the train carriage, her hands on her hips, her red lips pursed.

“You heard me.”

Zuko put his papers down and stretched out in the train compartment, eying her with interest as he propped his boots up on the seat opposite them. “If you want to get me naked, you just have to ask, Suki.”

Suki's lips twitched, but she shut down the smile he'd almost teased out of her the next instant. “Ha-Ha. That's not what I meant. This isn't a diplomatic mission, so there's no need to dress in those stuffy Fire Lord robes. That crown is a gold nightmare and a dead giveaway that you're royalty. It'll be easier to do my job and keep you from getting killed if you dress like an Earth Kingdom resident.”

“And you don't stick out?” he said, gesturing to her Kyoshi uniform and makeup. “Not many people in full face paint out on the streets of Ba Sing Se. Except clowns and uh... _ladies of the night_.”

“Did you just compare the noble tradition of the Kyoshi Warriors to prostitutes?”

“And clowns.”

“I could beat the shit out of you, you know,” Suki retorted, knocking his boots off of the seat with one gloved hand. She flounced into the seat with a huff as he chuckled.

“Believe me, I know. I'm still bruised from the last time you pinned me to the ground,” he said, the memory of their last training session together coming over him like a heat wave. He could still see the sweat beading on her skin, the hair sticking to her slender neck, the feel of her hands on his wrists, and her warm, supple body pinning him to the ground...those blue eyes like lightning...burning into him...

Suki bit down on the inside of her lip, meeting his gaze for one hot moment.

“I didn't hear you complaining,” she drawled and he felt heat flash up his spine, emboldening him past all decency.

“I'd have to be an idiot to complain about _that,_ ” he said slowly, and enjoyed watching her gloved hands turn into fists at her sides. She swallowed, the look in her eyes just this side of aroused. Dark triumph spread in him with a rush.

Things between them had been like this since the start of their journey from the Fire Nation to Ba Sing Se. Well, if he were honest, things had been like this for months now, but being alone together for the past few days had certainly ramped things past a mild flirtation he could write off as simply friendly, to a sizzling undercurrent that neither one of them could deny any longer.

Or maybe he just didn't _want_ to deny it.

He wanted her. He had known it for a long time and he was more than willing to cross that line between close friends to lovers. It was Suki herself that was stopping him from making any overt advances.

He knew she wanted him, though. It wasn't conceit. They had nearly kissed at least a dozen times, late at night, or during one of their hormone-soaked work out sessions when neither one of them could keep their hands off of the other.

But whenever things went almost close to too far, Suki pulled back. She slammed the door shut and went all formal on him. She turned from Suki, his long-time friend into Suki, the Leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, duty bound to protect him. All business. A blank mask.

This journey had been different, however. He wasn't sure why. Maybe it was because they were alone together. Maybe it was the change of scenery. Maybe the stars were aligned, he didn't know. He didn't care. He just knew that he liked it— _loved it_ —when Suki's blue eyes darkened with desire like that.

It made him want to do... _things._ Bad things. That look in her eyes shook through all of his normal awkward reticence and emboldened him past all decency.

“You _are_ an idiot,” she said, prodding his knee with the tip of her boot. His hand swooped out and grabbed her ankle. He yanked her forward, making her slide to the end of the seat. A squeak left her, followed by a sharp, high-pitched giggle as he pulled her shoe off and tossed it on the floor. “What do you think you're doing?”

He caught her gaze, flashing her a grin as he scooped up her other leg and put it into his lap. He pried off her other boot and tossed it aside.

“Taking off that silly uniform of yours before someone mistakes you for a lady of ill repute,” he said seriously. “Think of the scandal! The rumors!”

Suki giggled, her serious demeanor completely gone now. This was the Suki he liked best. His friend. The woman who made his heart burst, who could tease a smile out of him even on his gloomiest days. He'd never thought of himself as playful...but something about Suki brought it out in him. He liked it more than he could ever say.

“There won't be any rumors if you'd take off your crown,” Suki said, squirming as he pulled off her sock and tossed it at her. She caught it and then squealed as he raked his fingers down the sole of her foot. She fought him, but he tickled her foot again, enjoying the way she threw back her head, the way her giggle was nearly a shriek. “ZUKO!”

“Your feet smell.”

“THEY DO NOT!”

He made a face and tickled her foot again, but she sat up, launching herself across the space between the seats at him. He dropped her foot and reached for the fan on her waist, even as she pinned his shoulders back against the seat. She was still giggling.

“If you weren't the Fire Lord, I'd--” she said warningly.

“So pretend I'm not,” he said quickly, his blood rushing in his ears. His gaze flicked to her lips and back to her flashing blue eyes.

“Hard to pretend when you're wearing that crown,” she said through her teeth. He could see the burning light in her eyes though. He knew she had caught the clear invitation in his voice, the insinuation. The desire he was totally unable to control.

“I'll take it off when you take off this uniform,” he said and flicked out the fan between them.

She let up on his shoulders and reached for her fan.

“Give me that!”

He closed it with a snap and grinned, pulling it out of her reach. “No.”

“Give it!” she said in a stern voice that was betrayed by the smile playing on the corners of her lips. She stamped her bare foot on the carpeted floor. “Zuko! What has gotten into you?”

Zuko tucked the fan into the front of his robes and looked her straight in the eyes.

“I thought you wanted me to lighten up? Aren't you always telling me I'm too serious?” he said. “I just want to give you what you want, Suki.”

Suki's smile slowly relaxed and he saw her bite down on her lower lip.

“Zuko...”

He shifted forward on the seat, one of his bent knees sliding between her legs as she stood before him. He looked up at her and they were so close he could have buried his face against her stomach, but he wasn't touching her. Instead he met her gaze.

“Isn't that what you want, Suki?” he asked softly.

Suki let out an unsteady breath and stepped closer, her hand sliding along his cheek.

“What I want...” she said slowly, “is for you to take off this damned crown.”

And she seized the golden, flame-shaped crown in his hair and gave it a wrench. He jerked his head away, and grabbed her around the waist, twisting in place and depositing her on the seat beneath his pinning weight.

“Give me that stupid thing!” Suki laughed as they wrestled on the seat. He batted off her hands, grabbing her wrists as he laughed.

“No!”

“Give it!”

“No!” he said and stuck out his tongue at her.

She made a fake shocked face and then grinned at him. Her eyes were glittering with excitement. “Very mature.”

She laughed as he let up on her wrists and grasped the half-helmet on her head, tossing it off, and mussing her hair.

“If I'm losing the crown, you're losing this helmet,” he said seriously.

“I'm on duty,” she giggled.

“So am I.”

“You're on vacation.”

“So are you.”

“No, I'm not.”

“You are if I say you are. Fire Lord, remember?”

“How can I forget...when you won't take off your crown?” Suki said, making a fake snarling face.

“You really want me to take it off?” She nodded. “Fine.”

He reached up and pulled out the pins holding the golden, flame-shaped crown in place. His dark hair immediately tumbled down his shoulders as he leaned over her. He waved the crown at her and then tossed it aside.

“Happy now?”

Suki bit down on her lower lip and reached up, running her fingers through a snarl of his hair that had fallen forward. “Yes.”

“Now you.”

“Me what?”

“This armor is a problem,” he said with a sigh and then looked in her eyes. “You should definitely take it off.”

“Oh, I should, should I?” Her eyebrow arched as they stared at one another.

“Absolutely,” he said seriously, as his blood roared in his ears. Suki shifted beneath him, her fingers twirling up in his hair. He couldn't stop staring at her mouth. And he was very aware of his knee between her thighs.

“Same to you,” she said and flicked the pointed shoulders of his black cape. “One look at you, crown or no, and everyone will know you're a royal pain.”

“Am not.”

“Are too,” she said warmly.

“Am not, but you make a good point,” he said. “I definitely don't want to be anyone on this vacation but myself. I don't want to be the Fire Lord and I don't want you to be my bodyguard. I want the protocol and duty left behind. We're just Zuko and Suki, okay? We're just _us._ ”

There was a lot loaded into his words, and he knew she understood him perfectly. How could she not? Hadn't they been dancing around this months now?

“Zuko, I don't think...”

But he smiled a little. “Don't over-think it.”

“That's usually my advice to you,” she said in a quavering voice.

“It's good advice. I always take it,” he said as he grasped her hand and brought it to his lips. He kissed the backs of her gloved knuckles. Suki hitched in a breath and he felt her other hand grip the front of his shirt, pulling him closer.

“I know you do. I--” she started, just as a loud whistle cracked the air, making them both jump. She snatched hand back and scooted up and away from him until her back was to the window of their train carriage. The train whistle coincided with a sudden jolt that rocked them in place.

Zuko caught himself on the seat and rushed forward, pushing the plush golden curtain aside to peer out into the gloom, and in the distance, the looming, illuminated wall of Ba Sing Se's massive outer ring.

“Shit,” he intoned, feeling the train slowing as it approached the station, where a carriage would be waiting for them. He glanced at Suki. “I didn't realize we were so close to the city.”

“I heard the new train is pretty fast,” Suki said casually, smoothing her hair down as she reached for her boots and pulled them on. “We should...umm...freshen up.. We'll be at the station in a few minutes.”

He glanced around the carriage, at his scattered papers on the floor and on the seat, at her helmet and his crown at their feet.

“Right,” he said grimly, feeling thoroughly put out, as if he'd missed his moment. He gestured to his travel bag, which was on a shelf above the seats as she scooped up her shoes and helmet. “I guess I'll change. You're right. I'll attract too much attention.”

“I should change too.”

They stood at the same time and came face to face. Suki's panicked gaze as she met his eye made his heart clang hard against his ribcage.

“Sorry,” he mumbled and moved out of her way, so she could sidle past him.

She stopped, however, and surprised him by stepping even closer. He stared down at her, his blood roaring.

“Zuko...” she started, and he caught his breath as he felt her hand slide into the front of his shirt. She pulled it out just as quickly though, and waved her closed fan in his face, pulling a twisted little smile that made him want to tackle her again. “I won't wear my uniform or paint while we're in Ba Sing Se, but there's no way I'm going weaponless. And my feet don't smell.”

And then she bopped him on the nose with the fan and swept out of the carriage before he could say or do anything. He grinned after her, feeling...

Well, he wasn't sure _what_ he was feeling at the moment.

Maybe it was hope.

 _Or,_ he thought ruefully as he felt his cock twitch, _maybe it's something else entirely._


	2. Two

 

After a long journey through Ba Sing Se's series of walled rings, Zuko and Suki found themselves in front of the Jasmine Dragon Tea House, their bags on their shoulders and wearing significantly much less conspicuous clothing.

Suki had washed the paint from her face before leaving the train, leaving her skin clean and rosy-cheeked. She'd also changed out of her uniform and put on a pair of green, knee-length pants with gold embroidery on them, and a matching cropped shirt with split bell sleeves that ended at her elbows. She had her fan strapped to her waist, and a sword strapped to her back, which was about as inconspicuous as she'd allow herself.

Zuko had changed into a green and tan vest and a matching pair of dark green pants, with brown boots and a hooded robe. He'd left his hair down, letting the thick black cascade fall over his eye in order to hide the scar.

They hadn't spoken much on the journey to his uncle's tea shop, but he'd been watching Suki whenever she looked away from him, which was often. She seemed to be attempting to avoid his gaze, but she was also on alert for any attacks. No matter how much he wanted to pretend he wasn't the Fire Lord on this trip, he knew that Suki would never do that. She never let her guard down, disguise or no.

That was what made her such an excellent bodyguard...but he knew that her dedication to her duty was what was driving a wedge between them. He'd known that for a while, and he didn't understand it, not really. They had been friends—were still friends—before she'd become his bodyguard...why did it matter that she technically worked for him? It didn't really matter to him, why should it matter to her?

He just didn't get her reluctance.

 _Unless she's just not interested in me_ , he thought gloomily, and then thought of the way they had played with one another in the train compartment and how close they had come to outright going for it. How close he'd come. Oh, how he'd wanted to put an end to the circles they'd been dancing around one another...

Glancing at her now, standing outside his uncle's tea shop, he made a vow to himself to make a move while they were in Ba Sing Se—any move. If she rejected him, he'd deal with it and move on, but this tension had to stop somehow and the only way to do that was to tackle it head on.

He was nervous about it, unsure, but determined.

Lost in his thoughts, he missed the door of the tea shop opening and Iroh's exclamation of surprise and delight at seeing them on his doorstep.

“NEPHEW! I did not expect you so early! Or rather, late!” Iroh said, pulling him into a fierce hug that practically lifted Zuko off of his feet. He smiled and caught himself on his uncle's shoulders. The weight Iroh had lost in prison all those years ago had slowly crept back up on him again. He was enjoying a very soft retirement in Ba Sing Se.

It had been several months since they'd last seen each other. There was more white in Iroh's bristly beard, and more lines around his eyes, but he didn't look careworn. He looked happy and relaxed, as if he hadn't a care in the world.

Something inside of Zuko relaxed a little. Being with his uncle always had that affect on him, whether he would admit it or not.

“We were supposed to arrive in the morning, but the new train from Republic City was faster than we expected,” Zuko said as he pulled back. He met Iroh's gaze. “You look well, Uncle.”

“I look well-fed,” Iroh guffawed with a wide grin, patting his expansive stomach, and then turning to Suki. He reached out and took her hand, bending over it and kissing it gallantly. “And what a pleasure it is to you again, Captain Suki!”

“It's good to see you too, General Iroh,” Suki said warmly as Iroh looked between the two of them.

There was a knowing gleam in Iroh's gaze that Zuko didn't like in the slightest. He suspected that Iroh knew how he felt about Suki; he'd certainly been dropping enough hints in his letters, and on his last visit to Ba Sing Se.

“Well, well, come in. Come in! I'll make some tea!” Iroh said and led them inside. He put his hands on their backs and steered them toward the front door of the shop. “Also...uh...I have some er...interesting news!”

“What's that, Uncle?” Zuko asked, warily.

“King Kuei has proposed marriage to you!”

 

* * *

 

“He did what now?” Suki said in a flat voice as a supremely bemused expression crossed Zuko's face. She glanced at him and then back at Iroh. Iroh's broad face flushed and he rubbed at the back of his neck.

“We should discuss this inside,” he said, gesturing to the closed tea shop behind him. “You never know who is listening these days.”

Suki's hand strayed to the fan at her waist, suddenly alert to the fact that they were standing in the middle of the street in a foreign city. Though they were incognito, it wasn't much of a secret that the Fire Lord sometimes came to visit and stay with his uncle.

The Jasmine Dragon was a security risk and always had been, but Zuko had insisted that she be the only Kyoshi Warrior he was willing to take with him on his vacation—and there wasn't much she could do to fight a royal order.

 _Well...that wasn't entirely true_ , she thought with a hot flush as she remembered their teasing on the train. She pushed the confusing memory away and focused instead on the empty street as Zuko, still smiling bemusedly, followed Iroh into the shop.

She glanced at the street—it was empty for now, but she'd have to make a perimeter sweep before she'd be satisfied that things were as they appeared. She had other pressing business to attend to.

Like Zuko getting a marriage proposal from the Earth King, apparently.

Zuko held the door open for her and she passed him, flushing a little as his gaze flicked over her, probably looking for some sign of what she thought of Iroh's surprising pronouncement, or maybe he was looking for something else in her eyes...

She steadfastly ignored the hot weight of his eyes on her and surveyed the empty tea shop, looking for hidden dangers, as Iroh swept over to a table and settled heavily into a chair, leaving them to follow like lost children.

“Okay, Uncle...explain,” Zuko said as he set his heavy bag down and sank into a chair across from Iroh. Suki did the same beside him, watching as Iroh pulled a chagrined smile.

“Well...uh...it's a long story...”

“I should think so,” Suki said smartly.

“Perhaps I should make some tea first?”

“No, explain!”

“Tea first!” Iroh said and scrambled out of his chair, practically running toward the kitchen. Zuko opened his mouth to call him back, but closed it again. He rubbed at his forehead instead, grimacing.

“Not even five minutes together and I'm already neck-deep in it,” he muttered, making Suki laugh a little. He looked at her, and their gazes met with a hot wrench. “Amused, are we?”

“Well, it's not every day the Earth King proposes marriage to the Fire Lord,” she said, but then blushed as her thoughts strayed where she had been trying for months not to let them stray. “I didn't know that Kuei felt that way about you. You've been flirting with him too, have you?”

“Seriously?” he said flatly and gestured to the little window that opened up between the kitchen and the tea shop, where they could see Iroh brewing tea and setting cakes on a tray. “And the only person I've been flirting with has been--”

But he stopped as Iroh came back into the room, humming, a tray laden with honey cakes, a large, steaming teapot, a small pot of tea leaves, three cups and a bowl of sugar. He set it down and then settled at the table with a rather bemused expression on his face.

“Uhh...honey cake?” he offered, pushing the try at them. Suki and Zuko ignored him.

“Spill, Uncle,” Zuko said, sitting back in his chair. “What is going on? Why does Kuei want to marry me?”

“Oh, I did not mean Kuei! I meant...” Iroh twisted his rough hands together and glanced between the two of them again. “Well, it was... It's an interesting story... You see, I was serving tea to King Kuei. He visits me from time to time, you know. He and I were talking...”

“And?” Zuko prompted, an arch in his voice.

“And. Well. He has a cousin... Her name is Daiyu. She holds the title of Lady, I believe. She is said to be very beautiful. The Black Jade, they call her...”

Suki felt a cold feeling of dread come over her and glanced at Zuko, trying to keep her face neutral. Zuko's brows drew down low, the scar on his eye just visible beneath the fall of his dark hair.

“And?” Zuko said again, this time in a colder voice.

Iroh swirled his fingertip on the table, pursing his lips and pointedly not looking at either one of them in the eye. “And Kuei brought up the idea of marrying his cousin to someone in the Fire Nation royal family.”

“You mean me?” Zuko said and then let out a gusty sigh. “I hope you told him no, uncle!”

“Well...I...I did not tell him yes. I did not feel that was my place,” Iroh said. “He wouldn't hear any of my arguments any way, Fire Lord Zuko. Kuei seems determined to marry his cousin off, and he seems to think a union between our two nations would be advantageous. You cannot deny that it would not.”

Zuko hesitated for a moment and then shook his head. But Suki had already seen the thought cross his mind. She shifted in her chair, suddenly feeling as if she couldn't breathe properly. She could see what Iroh meant all too easily. Relations between the two nations had slowly been rebuilt over the past couple of years, but a marriage would cement the friendship in a way trade agreements wouldn't.

Zuko was a bachelor, a Fire Lord without an heir, save Azula and who knew where she was? There had already been whispers about Zuko needing an heir, but he hadn't dated anyone in years. He was certainly not close to marrying anyone.

A marriage of political advantage would neatly solve a lot of problems.

Kuei knew it, so did Iroh, though reluctantly, and by the look in Zuko's eyes, he knew it too.

Suki felt like she was going to be sick. She clasped her hands in her lap, willing them to stop shaking, but they wouldn't. She couldn't be sitting here, listening to this...

 _Not that I care,_ she told herself quickly.

Zuko rubbed at his temple after a long moment and then sighed. “The thought has crossed my mind before.”

“WHAT?” Suki burst out before she could stop herself, and immediately felt heat rising to her face as Zuko glanced at her. Some of his consternation faded a little as their gazes met, a spark of amusement in his eyes. It was the same look he'd had on his face in the train compartment, the same look that had slipped past her defenses and made her want...

But it didn't matter what she wanted.

Zuko's lips twitched, perhaps remembering things that made her heart race even now, but he turned back to Iroh.

“An arranged political marriage has always been something I've had to keep in mind, unfortunately. It goes with the territory. My parents had an arranged marriage, after all.”

“But that was not for political gain. Your grandfather wanted to strengthen the firebending bloodline,” Iroh pointed out, pouring three cups of tea and pushing them at Suki and Zuko. Suki took hers, just to give her shaking hands something to do.

“And you see how well their marriage worked out,” Zuko said sarcastically. “Your marriage wasn't political, was it, Uncle?”

“No. Mine was for love,” Iroh said softly, his gaze suddenly misty and far away. A little smile graced his lips as his hand ran through his beard. “There were no alliances to be made in my time. We were at war with the other nations, and my father was obsessed with keeping the bloodlines pure. He would never have consented to a marriage to anyone who was not Fire Nation born, so marriage to a foreigner was not in my future. I was lucky enough to fall in love with your aunt before my father became serious about finding me a wife. It was never an issue.”

“But it is with me?”

“Well, yes. You are of an age, nephew, where you should be thinking of marriage and children, after all. It is to be expected,” Iroh said, and then glanced at Suki and away.

“Fantastic,” Zuko mumbled and took a fortifying drink of tea. “I know I have to keep an alliance marriage as an option, even as a bargaining chip, but I don't plan on marrying some woman I don't know just because the Earth King wants it to happen. Our relationship with the other nations is stable and strong enough that an alliance isn't necessary.”

“Perhaps not necessary, but an option no less.”

“Publicly, yes...an option,” Zuko conceded, with a tip of his teacup. “But _not_ one I'm going to ever seriously entertain.”

“Daiyu is... She is very beautiful.”

“She could be the Moon Spirit and I wouldn't care, Uncle,” Zuko said heavily, putting his teacup down with a soft clunk. “I'll tell Kuei that myself. I'll tell him I'm flattered by his offer, but no thank you.”

“Do you think that's wise?” Suki asked, although something in her had loosened a little. Some of the sick feeling had fled.

“Kuei is a great ally. He'll understand,” Zuko said, nodding solemnly.

But Iroh was looking doubtful. “I am not so sure of that, Zuko. He has been very persistent, obsessed even, with the notion of marrying his cousin to you. He has visited nearly every night for the past month. He has many hopes and plans. I do not think he will drop the matter.”

Zuko tilted his head back, rubbing his temple again. Suki knew the gesture well. He usually did it when he was faced with a problem he didn't want to deal with.

“Well, then I'll just have to explain to him that I'm not interested.”

“He will want to know _why_ you are not interested,” Iroh said, and glanced at Suki again, that knowing glint back in his eyes. “As I said, Daiyu is quite beautiful. Many men have already asked for her hand.”

But Zuko was standing, his face grim. “Let them have her then. I don't know her. I don't love her. And uncle, I will not settle for anyone that I do not love.”

Zuko's gaze flicked to Suki for one long moment. There was something in his eyes...a fierce light, a promise, something like hunger. She caught her breath, the teacup shaking in her fingers as Zuko pushed in his chair.

“I will tell him, Zuko,” Iroh was saying, as Suki felt her heart pounding in her chest. “You both should rest. You had a long journey.”

“Thank you, uncle,” Zuko said, nodding at his uncle and then turning to Suki. “Goodnight, Suki.”

“Goodnight, Zuko,” she said, her tongue thick in her mouth. She avoided his gaze again and heard him walk away. She imagined he had a lot to think about. She heard the door of one of Iroh's guest rooms close behind him and took a steadying breath.

When she looked up, Iroh was watching her with that same knowing look in his eyes. She stood. “Thank you for the tea, General Iroh. I should do a perimeter sweep before heading to bed.”

“Of course, Captain,” Iroh said and then smiled a little. “What do think of Kuei's proposal?”

Taken off-guard, she opened her mouth for a moment, and then closed it with a snap and a shrug. “It's Zuko's business. I'm just his bodyguard.”

“We both know that's not true,” Iroh softly, making heat flare up Suki's face.

“I... I'll do my sweep now.”

Iroh simply nodded, and watched her go, an amused look on his lined face.


	3. Three

 

Iroh was busy in his neat, orderly kitchen when Zuko awoke the next morning. He'd had a fitful night's sleep, his mood soured. Iroh's words kept playing in his mind, Kuei's offer sitting in his thoughts like a lump of hot metal.

It wasn't that he was seriously considering it—he wasn't—but the offer had definitely reminded him of how single he actually was. He hadn't dated anyone, even casually, in years. He was too busy to meet women, and as the Fire Lord, it wasn't like he could just date anyone. There were expectations on him that he couldn't ignore. Eventually he would have to marry, but he had no intention of marrying anyone he wasn't in love with, and that brought him back to his first problem.

 _No, my problem is that I've found the woman I want and I don't have the guts to make a move on her,_ he thought darkly as he glanced at the door of Suki's guest room. The door was open, and the room was dark. Frowning, he glanced around his uncle's living room and into the kitchen, but Iroh was alone, humming to himself as he kneaded dough on the floury counter top.

Walking into the kitchen, Zuko found himself smiling. The air smelled of freshly baking bread, and chocolate. A platter of steaming buns sat by the window, cooling in the warm breeze rushing in from the courtyard behind Iroh's house.

“Morning, Uncle. You've been busy,” he said warmly, as his Uncle glanced his way with a crinkle of his eyes.

“Good morning, nephew,” Iroh replied as Zuko plucked a warm bun from the platter and took a bite. The taste of cinnamon flooded his tongue and he moaned his appreciation.

“These are amazing.”

“From my own recipe,” Iroh said, sprinkling more flour across his dough. “They are very popular at the shop.”

“It's still doing well?”

“Very,” Iroh said and then glanced at him again. “The Earth King's business alone has kept me pouring tea from sundown to sun up for months. He has been very persistent.”

Zuko groaned and finished off his cinnamon bun. “I'm sure he has, Uncle, but my answer remains the same. I'm not interested.”

Iroh looked up, his gaze trained on the open window before him. The sunlight slanted in, warm and yellow as he flattened his lips together. “I think I can guess why not.”

“Because I don't want to marry some girl I don't know?” he shot at him.

“That...and because you only have eyes for Suki,” Iroh said, glancing at him slyly and then looking back out the window again. Zuko went very still, swallowing as he studied his uncle, trying to find a reason why he should deny it. “Do not think I have not noticed.”

“I haven't tried to hide it,” he said slowly, rubbing at the back of his neck.

“Nor could you, I think,” Iroh chortled, going back to his dough. “I've known for months now. Have you...?”

“No,” he said, feeling a lump in his throat. “No, she's... I mean, we're friends. And she's my bodyguard. It's not like I can just come onto her, Uncle. Even if she wanted me to. Which she doesn't.”

“She doesn't, eh?” Iroh said, amusement flavoring his voice. “And what makes you so sure of that?”

“Every time I try...any time we come close, she shuts me down. It's like this mask slips on and she's Captain Suki, instead of...” He trailed off, unable to explain it properly. Iroh seemed to understand anyway.

“Has she told you she isn't interested?”

“No,” he said grimly, leaning against the counter and crossing his arms over his chest. “But it's not like I've told her I like her either. I haven't given her a chance to turn me down.”

“Why not?”

Zuko stared at the floor beneath his feet, digging the tip of his pointed boot into the mortared crack between the clean tiles. His mood darkened as he mumbled, “I don't want her to reject me.”

“So you won't even try?”

“I _am_ trying, Uncle! I thought...maybe on this trip... Maybe... I don't know. I'm not a coward, I just don't want to make things weird. I really like her. More than like her.”

“Then you should tell her.”

“Do you think she likes me?”

“Yes,” Iroh said simply, making Zuko's head snap up. He stared at his uncle, who glanced right back at him. “Perhaps she is reluctant to show it, but yes, I think Captain Suki has feelings for you too, nephew.”

“See, I think that too, but I didn't know if I was just making that up in my head because I wanted her to like me!” Zuko admitted. “Especially since she keeps shutting me down.”

“Would you like some advice?”

He hesitated and then dipped his head. “Yeah.”

“Kiss her,” Iroh said simply, with a nod of surety.

Zuko laughed and leaned back against the counter, crossing his arms and his feet. “That's your advice?”

“Yes, did you expect a wise saying or some complicated plot to seduce her?”

“Well...yeah,” he shrugged. “A wise saying at least, something relevant.”

“Just kiss her,” Iroh said, and waved his floury fingers in Zuko's direction.

“I can't just grab her and kiss her, Uncle!” Zuko said, as he felt a flush of embarrassment rising up his face.

“Why not?”

“Her reflexes are too fast. She'd punch me,” he pointed out, as Iroh's lips twitched beneath his beard, and his bushy eyebrows lifted. “Besides, it's _rude_ to just grab a woman and...and... I can't do that. She doesn't want me to.”

“Yes, she does.”

“Uncle!”

Iroh put his sticky dough down with a wet smack and turned to face him, one hand hitched on his aproned hip. “I have been around the bush more than once, Fire Lord Zuko. I know when a woman wants a man, and when she doesn't, and _that_ woman wants you! Kiss her!”

“You are a terrible matchmaker, old man.”

“You see if I'm not right in the end,” Iroh said as he turned back to his dough. He looked up and jerked his chin in the direction of the window before him. “There she is. Go woo her!”

Zuko glanced over Iroh's shoulder at the shady courtyard, the cobblestones covered in a thick carpet of peach blossoms, which floated down like snowflakes in the gentle breeze. Suki was standing in the midst of the falling petals, moving sinuously—sensuously—through the forms of Tai chi. Her face was a study in utter calm and relaxation, every movement precise and flowing.

Pain shot through Zuko's chest as he watched her, and chasing hard on the heels of that pain was a deep, hard need that he could neither deny nor satisfy. It tortured him, and made all of his arguments and hesitation seem small and whimpering in comparison.

Just watching her made him want to do reckless things. It made him want to grab her and kiss her, and damn all consequences.

A lump formed in his throat and he found himself drifting over to the back door. He heard Iroh chuckle as he worked his dough, but ignored him. He stepped out into the warm sunlight and closed the door behind him. Suki didn't turn at the sound, but he knew that she had already clocked him. She was amazingly good at being aware of her surroundings at all times. It was what made her such a great bodyguard.

But he wished, and not for the first time, that she wasn't the head of his security. Her position in his employ had created distance between them. They were friends, close friends, but he knew Suki, at least, was determined to keep things on a professional level. She took things like that seriously, and while he admired that about her, it also frustrated him. He was sure that was what was keeping things between them from progressing, and why she kept pulling away from him.

He watched her move through the forms as he stepped closer. She was wearing a light green shirt that exposed her muscled torso and a matching pair of pants that gathered at her knees. Her feet were shod in dark brown leather sandals. She had her sword and her fan at her hip, but those were her only concessions to her position as his bodyguard. She wasn't wearing her paint, and her hair was half-gathered in a fishtail braid, little strands falling around her face in the warm, dry air.

When he stepped even closer, moving easily into the same form, Suki's eyes flicked his way, but she didn't say anything. They had done this many times, side by side. His body knew the forms well, and he flowed into the next one the same time she did.

They were mirrors of each other, moving as one into a graceful pattern that turned them in place in the courtyard. His blood started flowing, and he let himself drift into the serenity of the exercise. He felt, as he always did during his workouts with Suki, completely at peace.

He didn't have to be the Fire Lord right now. He didn't have to think about a million laws of governance, or taxes, or food shortages or any of the things that kept him up at night, and gnawed at his guts even as slept.

Here, with her, he was just Zuko, and the relief of that was more than he could ever tell her.

They came to the end of the exercise, and turned to one another, bowing with their hands fisted in front of them. Zuko let out a breath and a little smile crossed his lips.

“I should have known you wouldn't get soft on me, even on vacation.”

Suki's brow arched. “ _You're_ on vacation. I'm not.”

“You are if I say you are,” he said and then hesitated. “But I imagine you've already patrolled the neighborhood? Have you terrified a few of Uncle's busybody neighbors?”

Suki didn't even look slightly chagrined. “Just Iroh's delivery boy, but the day is still young. I think we're safe, unless the Earth King swoops in here to kidnap you and force you into marriage. I may not be able to stop him, if it comes to that. He has a bear, you know. A big one.”

Her cheeks dimpled at that, and he groaned.

“You're loving this, aren't you?”

“I just like watching you squirm,” she shot at him, her voice a warm hum in the soft morning light. “'Fire Lord Zuko, the world's most eligible bachelor.' I think I may have them put that on your stationary.”

“You wouldn't dare!”

“You already know that I would,” she said with a grin, walking over to a stone bench set beneath the heavy boughs of the peach tree. She sat down and grasped a mug of water sitting there. She stretched her long, muscular legs out before her, and took a sip. Her blue eyes glittered with mischief over the rim of her mug. “You shouldn't dismiss this marriage proposal so lightly, you know.”

Zuko caught himself staring at her legs and blinked at her. “Oh, really?”

“Yes, this girl may be your soulmate.”

“Somehow, I doubt that.”

“You never know. You could meet her and fall desperately in love at first sight. It's happened before,” she said, lifting her mug at him as if to accentuate her point. Zuko crossed his arms over his chest.

“You seem awfully intent on marrying me off to this girl, you know. I'm not sure what to make of that.”

“Maybe I just think you could use a little... _distraction_...” Suki said, and then her face colored prettily. He bit down on the inside of his lip and walked slowly over to her.

“I think you could use a little distraction too,” he said softly.

His heart was racing as Suki's knuckles went white on the handle of the mug. She set it down on the bench beside her and looked up at him with a soft expression in her eyes.

“Do you?” she said and chewed on her lip.

Zuko sat down on the bench beside her and took her hand. She didn't pull away, and he took it as a good sign. “I'm only interested in one woman, Suki, and I think you know that.”

She hitched in a breath and met his eyes. “I know.”

They stared at one another for a long moment. He didn't know what to do now. His feelings were out in the open between them. He didn't know how she felt, but he could guess. The look she was giving him was one of banked need.

His uncle's advice seemed to press on his thoughts, and he leaned in on instinct. Suki's eyes sparkled with interested and then drifted closed as she opened her lips, leaning toward him.

Their lips had barely brushed when the sound of a trumpet blasted through the air. The sound was so violent it shocked them apart. Zuko's head whipped around toward the back door of the teashop, just in time to see a green-clad figure spill out into the courtyard.

“Fire Lord Zuko! It's been too long!” King Kuei exclaimed, throwing out his hands in welcome, even as Zuko cursed his bad luck.


	4. Four

Suki heard Zuko curse beneath his breath beside her, even as the Earth King and his retinue came boiling out of the door of the tea shop and into the courtyard. Behind him were guards, his bear Bosco, and that thrice-cursed trumpeter, who was still bulging the Earth King's arrival, shrill and off-key.

Iroh came out behind Bosco the bear, his hands floury and a polite smile on his mouth that looked more like a grimace than anything. He was showing far too much teeth.

“Fire Lord Zuko, the...er...Earth King has come to see you,” Iroh said somewhat belatedly, and winced when the bugler went into another shrill series of _doot-da-da-doots!_ Suki sincerely wished someone would shove that horn up his ass.

She surveyed the King's retinue with an eye for security, but no one looked like a threat. Except the bear, perhaps, but he was busy nibbling one of Iroh's honey cakes.

Zuko let go of her hand and bolted to his feet, respectfully bowing to the Earth King, who returned the gesture. The king's thin face was stretched wide by an excited smile, his little pince-nez glasses falling to the end of his straight nose. He looked atwitter.

“Earth King Kuei, it's a pleasure to see you. It's been too long,” Zuko said in his Diplomat Voice, which Suki had learned well over the years meant Zuko was lying through his teeth, for politeness sake.

“Yes, yes, much too long!” Kuei exclaimed and then winced when his trumpeter, who hadn't yet stopped his bugling, hit a particularly sour note. The King half-turned to face the young man and said sharply, “Ping! ENOUGH!”

Ping cut off his bugling, looking extremely put out, but the King ignored him, turning back to Zuko, his large smile reappearing.

“I had planned on an official visit to the palace to pay my respects, but not for a few days. I hope you'll forgive me, but I'm on vacation...” Zuko started, holding up his hands and sweeping them in front of him in a dismissive gesture.

Suki's heart was pounding hard. She could see how agitated Zuko was by the interruption, although she doubted Kuei could. He ignored Zuko's statement entirely and clapped the taller man on the shoulder.

“Of course, of course! I myself went on a holiday last month. Bosco and I saw the Eastern Air Temple. Beautiful! A wonderful respite from our cares! I hope you'll find Ba Sing Se as relaxing as I found my visit to the temple.”

“I hope so too. It's good to see with my uncle, in any case.”

“Yes, yes, General Iroh's company has been a great comfort to me as of late. I visit often. Best tea in the city! And the best conversation, yes indeed!” Kuei drew nearer, still clasping Zuko on the shoulder so that he couldn't escape. In a conspiratorial tone, he said, “Your uncle and I have been discussing a few interesting matters of state lately. You see, I've had an idea, a grand idea! I think you'll find it most agreeable!”

Zuko looked like a trapped animal and he glanced at Suki with a plea for help in his eyes. She was still sitting there, somewhat in shock over the fact that she had nearly kissed Zuko.

No, she had kissed him, for just a moment. Their lips had brushed. He had kissed her. It counted. She had kissed him and...and...

Her brain was melting down. She was sure of it. Swallowing, she met Zuko's eye and shrugged as she lifted her fingers to her lips. She could still feel the warm, dry pressure of Zuko's lips. What might it have felt like to keep on kissing him? To lose herself in his warm arms, and...and...

_What am I doing? I shouldn't be kissing Zuko! What have I done?_

What she had done was had a moment of weakness, which Zuko was entirely too good at causing. When he looked at her, sometimes it took all of her strength not to throw caution to the wind and to just fall into his arms.

She hard nearly done that on the train, and a thousand times before that, but she'd always managed to put him off at the last moment, or stopped herself when she was the one who initiated it. Which she did, a lot. Against her own will.

_I can't get involved with him. He's the Fire Lord. He's my boss. And it's not right, me flirting with him like this. We're friends, but anything else would be wildly inappropriate. And it would reflect badly on the Kyoshi Warriors, I know it would. And what if it went badly? What if our relationship got in the way of my protecting him? What if I failed in my duties, because I let my heart get in the way?_

These were all things she'd told herself, over and over again, late at night, when a deep, aching longing took hold of her. Or whenever Zuko turned those rare smiles of his on her. When he smiled—especially when he smiled at her—she was hard-put to remember her own name, let alone hold her resolve in place.

Now, with the ghost of his lips still haunting hers, she realized just what trouble she was in. She'd given in, for just a moment, so taken aback by his admission of interest in her that she hadn't been able to summon the strength to put up that shield between them.

She had kissed him. She wanted to keep kissing him, and if he kissed her—really kissed her—she wouldn't stop there. Not even for a second, and that was Bad. That was Out of Bounds. That was a disaster waiting to happen.

_I am completely screwed._

As her thoughts ran in stupid little panicked circles, the Earth King was drawing his arm around Zuko, still saying in a conspiratorial tone, “I've had a brainwave, indeed I have! You see, you are unwed, and it just so happens that I have a cousin whom you might find is the perfect match for yourself. Daiyu, her name is! She's absolutely beautiful. Half of my court is mad for her, you know! Quite the catch!”

Zuko blanched and glanced at her again, pleading in his eyes. “Well, uh... Uncle already warned—TOLD—me something about this last night when I arrived and...”

“Naughty, Iroh! You were supposed to let me propose it to him!” Kuei said, wagging his finger at Iroh, who was wringing his flour-covered hands, that grimace still on his lips.

“My apologies, King Kuei. I couldn't help myself.”

“You're forgiven. It's hard to keep in such happy news!” Kuei said brightly.

“Well, as for that... Er... I'm not currently looking to... That is to say, I'm not... You see, I have no plans to, to, to,” Zuko floundered, stumbling all over himself. He looked like he wanted the cobblestones beneath his feet to open up and swallow him whole. Suki was pretty sure that if Zuko were an Earthbender, that very thing might already have happened. “Uh... To... You know.”

Kuei seemed to take Zuko's stammer as modesty, or maybe even deep flattery, and not the outright panic it was. Suki wondered what she could do to rescue him. She was his bodyguard, after all. Wasn't it her duty to save him from potentially threatening situations?

Even marriage proposals?

 _Or maybe_ , a quiet, wanting corner of her mind purred in satisfaction, _you're jealous of the idea of any woman being shoved in his direction?_

She told her brain to shut up and debated on what could be done to help Zuko, if anything. King Kuei seemed to be determined to ignore her very presence. He hadn't once looked at her, but that was nothing new. Kuei generally ignored the Kyoshi Warriors whenever they accompanied Zuko to a meeting. She didn't think he was being rude on purpose, he just marked them as “servants” and in his world, servants were part of the background and not to be addressed by Heads of State unless absolutely necessary.

It was the way of Royalty. Even Zuko did it, though not to the Kyoshi Warriors. But his other servants, the people who cleaned his home and cut his grass? They might as well have been invisible to him. He was polite when he did address them, but mostly he ignored them. She didn't think less of him for that, it was just The Way Things Were, and it brought home all the more clearly her own position.

She was a friend, but also a servant. A confidante, but part of the background of his life—or she was supposed to be. Their relationship was supposed to be proscribed, with clear rules and lines that weren't crossed.

She shouldn't be kissing him. He shouldn't be flirting with her. He shouldn't be telling her that he was interested in her, not when there were eligible women out in the world, of higher rank and birth and in more appropriate positions in his life.

The Fire Lord was just not supposed to be kissing his bodyguard, and that was that.

Suki's face burned, her stomach turning over as the facts drummed in her head. She'd gone over these points a thousand times before, and usually she was good at ignoring the way he made her feel, but...

But he had kissed her. And she had let him. She wanted to kiss him again, but that was Bad.

She didn't know what to do.

“Well, these things can't really be planned, can they? Love, as they say, is often inconvenient!” Kuei said, putting his finger beside his nose and winking at Zuko, who looked like he wanted cringe away.

_Inconvenient? That's the truth._

“I'm sorry, Kuei, but I'm not--”

“I thought you might be shy, or rather, the General tells me you're shy when it comes to the ladies,” Kuei said, and Zuko whipped around to face his uncle, a look of deep horror and betrayal on his face. Iroh wrung his hands.

“UNCLE!”

“Not to worry, not to worry!” Kuei said, and patted Zuko on the shoulder. “I've brought my cousin to meet you and you can see how you two suit. I know you'll hit it off. The Black Jade, they call her. Beautiful girl!”

“Uh...” Zuko started, and he actually looked like he was going to make a break for it, but Kuei held him tightly by the shoulder and nodded to his overenthusiastic bugler, who started, and then yanked the door to Iroh's kitchen open.

“The Lady Daiyu!” Ping declared as a blushing young woman stepped out into the bright sunshine. Suki felt her stomach plummet as she sat there on the bench, still too stunned to move. Her eyes took in the Earth King's cousin and she felt like an absolute hoyden next to her.

The girl was delicate, her skin like fine porcelain. Her eyes were bright, the color of rich green jade, and fringed with dark, long lashes that any woman would envy—and they didn't look like artifice. Her brows were thin and arched over her expressive, but shy eyes like the wings of doves. Her lips were as red as rubies, plump and firm, and curled into a beguiling smile that had probably ensnared many men and no few women.

Her hair was as dark as ink, with a sheen about it that dazzled the eye. There were green and yellow ribbons in her carefully coiffed hair, and a comb in the shape of a white lotus flower was inserted into the whole confection, like a crown. She was wearing a jade-green robe that matched her eyes, embroidered with gold, and dripping with silks of every shade of green and yellows.

In short, she was as beautiful as both Iroh and Kuei had declared. They hadn't been exaggerating at all.

“Hello, Fire Lord Zuko, it is a pleasure to meet you,” Lady Daiyu said in a voice like bells, and she bowed gracefully at Zuko, and then pulled another charming smile.

Suki glanced sharply at Zuko, and her black mood went even darker, as she saw blood rush to Zuko's face. His mouth opened and he blinked several times, like he couldn't believe the vision before his eyes.

“Uh... It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Lady Daiyu,” Zuko said, stumbling as he walked over to the girl. She was shorter than he was almost by a head, and he had to stoop to take her hand. He brought it to his mouth and kissed it gently. “The tales of your beauty seem hardly to do you justice.”

Suki's hands fisted in her lap and she felt her throat close. Her own face was growing red and she could hear a dull roaring in her ears that grew as Daiyu demurred coquettishly, those long lashes of her fluttering over her impossible green eyes.

“You flatter me, Fire Lord Zuko, as does my dear cousin. I'm afraid he is rather fixated on the idea of a betrothal between us,” she said shyly, in a breathy voice that made Zuko's ears go red.

Suki stood up then, but she didn't know why. Her heart was pounding like mad and all she could focus on was Zuko's hand still holding Daiyu's.

“Oh, well...I'm...” Zuko stammered again. “That's... About that, I... I'm flattered and— _extremely_ flattered—but I'm... Well that is to say, I'm...uh...”

“What he's _trying_ to say is that he's taken!” Suki said, her voice ringing out loud and clear across the courtyard.

Every eye turned on her immediately.

_Oh shit._


	5. Five

_Oh shit, oh shit, OH SHIT! OHSHITSHITSHIT SHIT SHIIIIIITTTT!_

Suki felt the blood drain out of her face as what she'd just said sank in. Her brain went on full meltdown. She hadn't just said that. Had she?

But she could tell by the stunned look on Zuko's face, his eyes widening as he wheeled on her, that she had.

“I beg your pardon?” Lady Daiyu said, in a much less breathy voice than she'd used on Zuko. Her coquettish smile had faded to an angered pout, those impossible green eyes narrowing imperceptibly. “Who is... _this?_ ”

But Zuko was still staring at Suki, and the shock on his face was wearing off. Their gazes met. Suki felt nervous sweat slide down her back. Slowly, ever so slowly, a grin spread across his face. Normally she loved to see him smile, but _that_ grin...

_I'm in trouble. What did I just do?_

“Fire Lord Zuko?” Kuei spoke up, confusion in his voice, his excitement deflating in his uncertainty.

Zuko let go of Lady Daiyu's hand, and something in Suki unclenched and unfurled, though she hadn't been aware that she'd been practically shaking at the sight of him holding her hand. Touching her. Actually blushing at her!

Zuko's topaz eyes glittered in deep amusement as she stared at him, begging him not to, but it was far too late. She'd done this to herself.

 _Don't you dare!_ she tried to send at him with only the widening of her eyes.

 _You are so screwed_ , Zuko's grin seemed to say.

“King Kuei, I believe you and Captain Suki are already acquainted. She's the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, and my chief bodyguard. And my girlfriend,” Zuko said, and there was challenge and laughter in his eyes.

She knew him well enough to know that he truly was on the edge of laughter and was only keeping his mirth in by a hairsbreadth.

 _Oh, I'm gonna get him for this_ , she thought, even though the blame could be squarely put on her and her stupid mouth. And her irrational, jealous heart.

“You didn't say anything about this, General Iroh,” Kuei said, turning on Iroh, who was holding a flour-smeared tea towel over his mouth. Suki was pretty sure he was hiding a grin behind the towel, but when he lowered it, he looked sober and dignified, though his eyes were shining with amusement.

“I was not aware that my nephew had a girlfriend until now,” Iroh spoke up. “I would have discouraged you, if I'd known.”

Zuko walked over to Suki and slipped his arm around her waist. She was too numb to push him away, even if she'd wanted to. Zuko took her hand in his. “We were waiting for the right time to surprise you, Uncle. Isn't that right, Suki?”

She glanced at him furtively, noting the curl of his lips and the blush still turning his ears a beet red. “Yes,” she said, smiling at Iroh rather stiffly. “Yes, we were waiting. Surprise!”

“Oh,” Kuei said, the wind completely falling out his sails at that. He physically drooped, a hang-dog expression on his face. “Well, I'm very happy for the two of you.”

But he didn't sound happy.

“Thank you, King Kuei. I'm very happy as well.”

“She's...your bodyguard?” Daiyu said delicately.

“Yes,” Zuko said with confidence.

“A servant,” she said shortly.

“Well,” Zuko started, glancing down at Suki. “I mean, _technically..._ Not that that matters to me. _”_

“They must do things very differently in the Fire Nation. How...progressive of you,” Daiyu said, and the look she sent Suki could have shriveled a peach.

_I think I just made an enemy. Fantastic._

“And is it...is it serious?” Kuei hazarded, gesturing between the two of them.

Zuko took Suki's hand as he turned his gaze on her. Though there was amusement still dancing in his eyes, there nothing but deadly earnest in his voice when he said, “I'm _very_ serious about my feelings for Suki.”

He kissed her hand and then met her eye again. She felt tingles go through her from head to toe. He'd meant that. Completely meant that.

She wanted the earth to swallow her whole now, but it wouldn't. Curse her for not having been born an Earthbender! Curse him for thinking this was funny! For some reason, she had a feeling Zuko knew what had prompted her outburst. That he knew she was jealous, and he was enjoying it. But beneath that... Oh, he was deadly serious.

She'd played right into his hands.

_I may kill him._

“Yes, well, that's...lovely to hear,” Kuei said, and glanced at his cousin, who had gone very stiff. Kuei looked nervous all of a sudden.

“Lady Daiyu, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm afraid I'm spoken for,” Zuko said easily, bowing to her. Some of his stammering was gone, which just told Suki had incredibly well he'd played her, thinking his head could be turned so quickly by a pretty face. Even a face like Daiyu's.

“I understand,” Daiyu said, laughing softly, though the expression didn't reach her eyes. She was glaring at Suki, though no one else seemed to realize it. “This is a bit awkward. I'm a little embarrassed. We shouldn't have intruded on you like this.”

“No matter!” Kuei said, flapping his hands as he between Zuko and Daiyu. “It was a fleeting thought, a half-baked idea, actually. And Iroh warned me! Didn't you, Iroh?”

“Well, I did say that my nephew might have something to say in the matter,” Iroh said, rocking back on his heels. At his feet, Bosco was sniffing at Iroh's messy apron. “It's hard to reckon the hearts of the young, but I can't say I'm surprised that my nephew finally made his intentions toward the lovely Suki known! He's held a torch for her for a long time!”

Zuko glanced at Suki, his face red. Her face felt hot as well. She had a feeling Iroh knew they weren't dating, but she also had a feeling Iroh hadn't lied just now. Just how long had Zuko liked her?

 _Probably as long as I've liked him_ , she thought and then scolded herself. _Not that I do! I'm not supposed to, anyway..._

Lost in her thoughts, Suki missed the Earth King making his excuses. It seemed the situation called for a hasty retreat. Zuko bowed to him, his hand slipping off of her waist. Then Zuko bowed to Daiyu, who returned the gesture. She didn't bow to Suki. She swept out of the courtyard with her head held high, but the look she shot at Suki over her shoulder was one of deep loathing.

 _Yeah, this is going to end well,_ Suki thought ruefully as Kuei's bugler gave another shrill blast and the King herded a lumbering Bosco out of the courtyard, calling promises to come visit Iroh soon over his shoulder. He looked like a man who had been severely disappointed.

Or maybe like a man who was about to get an earful from his severely disappointed cousin. Daiyu was clearly not happy with the unexpected turn of events.

Then again, a girl like that had probably had men fall at her feet left and right for years. She'd probably never been rejected before, and certainly not by Royalty. The blow to her ego had caught her unawares.

Suki had a feeling she would regroup though. And what that could mean for her, or Zuko, she didn't want to contemplate at the moment.

The sound of the King's retinue faded into the ever-present noise of the city, leaving Iroh, Zuko and herself standing in the courtyard with the peach blossoms raining down on them. She saw Iroh look between them, smile encouragingly, and then he all but ran through the kitchen door, leaving them alone in the courtyard.

Zuko licked his lips and turned toward her.

“Suki...”

She didn't give him a chance to finish. She turned and ran through the kitchen door after Iroh. Zuko shouted after her, but she didn't stop.

* * *

 

Zuko stared after Suki for a long moment, the echo of his shout reverberating on the stone walls around him. Then he was off, chasing after her. He charged into the kitchen and looked around. Iroh was there, his hands back on his dough.

Wordlessly, his uncle lifted his stubby finger and gestured toward the guest rooms that jutted off of his main living area. The door of Suki's guest room was closed. He charged over to it and nearly banged on it in his haste. Instead, he lightly knocked, as if his heart was pounding like a drum in his chest.

He still couldn't believe Suki had said that. Even if she'd looked like she wanted to shimmy up a tree to avoid looking at him afterward. She'd still said it, and the jealousy in her eyes when she'd looked at Daiyu had been unmistakable.

“Suki? It's me.” There was no reply from the other side of the door. He knocked again and leaned his ear against the wood. “Look, I'm... I don't know what to say here. Would you open up, please? Please? I think we should talk!”

There was silence on the other side of the door for a long moment, and then it slid open a crack, and one of Suki's dark blue eyes peered at up at him.

“We're _not_ dating,” she said, surprising him.

“I know that.”

“Do you?”

“Well, yeah...” he said, rubbing at his neck as he leaned into the door, putting his face to the crack. “I know you just said that bail me out back there.”

“You did that on purpose!”

“Did what?”

“You know what!” she snarled at him and snapped the door closed on his nose. Pain shot through his face and he stumbled back, clutching at his nose. Tears welled in his eyes as he stared at the door.

Then he reached forward, wrenching it open. It was a flimsy thing, decorative rice paper on a wooden frame, and it flew open with more force than he'd meant. Suki yelped and stepped back as it banged to a clattering, rattling stop.

“That hurt!”

“You were trying to make me jealous!” Suki said, her fists clenching in front of her as he stepped into the room. He closed the door gently behind him and turned to face her with shame in his eyes.

“I...”

“And don't you deny it!” she said, jabbing his chest with her finger.

Zuko hesitated, and then pulled a grimace. He'd definitely been trying to make her jealous out there. He'd noted the way Suki had clocked the girl the moment she'd walked into the courtyard, that she'd seen Daiyu as a threat, though he had a feeling she would never, ever, in a million years admit it.

Daiyu was undeniably beautiful. His uncle and the King hadn't been lying about that, and for a moment seeing her _had_ knocked him for a loop.

But only for a moment. She was beautiful, yes, but she wasn't _Suki._ He wasn't going to stumble all over himself just because of a pretty face.

But oh, that look on Suki's face... It had done things to him. It had made him want to see her rear up, to claim her territory, to finally acknowledge what she wanted.

He knew Suki very well. She had a jealous streak that was fearsome to behold when aroused. How often had he seen her bristle when some girl flirted with Sokka, back when they were dating? She wasn't possessive, or even controlling, but she definitely didn't like sharing the attention of anyone she was dating and he couldn't really blame her for that.

Zuko too, had a jealous streak. It wasn't something he was proud of, but he fully acknowledged it as one of his shortcomings. Suki, on the other hand...

Suki wallowed in her jealousy, like a drunk at an open bar. And he had used that fact to his advantage. Or at least, to some advantage. He hadn't meant for her to stand up and declare them an item before the Earth King, but the fact that she had had pleased him beyond all decency.

He'd liked hearing her say that he was hers. No, he'd loved it.

“I'm not denying it.”

“Why would you do that?” Suki said, hurt in her voice.

“Because every time we come even remotely close to...” he floundered for words, and gestured wildly between them. “To us! To the next step! I don't know! To stop pretending like we're not flirting and crazy for one another? Every time we nearly kiss or touch or...admit how we feel you just shut down on me like nothing happened. Like you don't like me! And I know you're just pretending, Suki! I was trying to making you jealous so you'd admit that you like me!”

“How do you know I like you? Just because you like me doesn't mean that I like you! I know you said you had feelings for me right before they showed up, and we...we... We kissed a little, but that was just... I was just...”

“So you _don't_ like me?”

“I... Well...” she trailed off, obviously trapped now. Her hands worried themselves against her chest and she bit down on her lower lip. Her eyes were huge in the sunlight filtering in through the windows. “It's not that simple...”

“It's simple to me. You either like me, or you don't.”

“Zuko, I... I don't want to lead you on. It's not that I don't like you, it's that... Well, I _can't_ like you.”

“ _Can't?_ Why not?” he laughed. “Why can't you like me?”

“Because you're _you_ and I'm _me_ , and that's...” She looked pained as he stepped close. He took her hands and he could feel her trembling.

“Well, that's why I like you. Because you're you,” he said softly. “Daiyu is gorgeous...but she's nothing compared to you.”

“Don't lie.”

He grinned. “It's not a lie. She had nothing on you. _Nothing._ Suki, you're... You're everything I want. And I do want you.”

“Please don't say that...” she said breathlessly, her lips opening, her eyes soft in the sunlight. He leaned in, his hands sliding around her waist. She didn't fight him. Instead she seemed to melt into his embrace.

“But I do,” he said as his nose brushed hers. “I want you, Suki.”

She took a ragged breath and tremble passed over her body. She flattened her hands on his chest. Her blue eyes were blown wide, her cheeks flushed, pink lips bitten.

“Zuko... You shouldn't say that...”

“Why not?”

“Because you're making it very hard for me to leave this room and I really should leave, before I do something stupid,” she said in a tremulous voice. He smiled a little, his forehead resting against hers.

“You don't want to leave,” he whispered as blood roared in his veins, in his ears, in his heart and then further south, tightening in his groin as her perfume tantalized his senses. His hand slid up her back.

“No...no, but I should.”

“If that's what you really want I won't stop you,” he said. Suki squeezed her eyes shut for a hard moment and then looked him straight in the eyes.

“It's _not_ what I want, Zuko. What I want–“

“I know what you want,” he said roughly and kissed her.


End file.
